Time passed quickly in the midst of striving, and in the blink of an eye, seven years had gone by. Jiang Jingyu finally emerged from the shadow of that accident.
However, his personality was no longer as flamboyant and reckless as before; he had become very quiet and reserved.
He kept everything to himself, and his smiles never reached his eyes, as if nothing in this world could make him happy anymore.
Except for the company developing new products, sales figures reaching new heights, and his sisters achieving good results again.
To make their parents and brother happy, the two sisters had coincidentally chosen to pursue postgraduate studies.
During their internships, they went to Gery Electric and Zhan Shi Real Estate respectively.
The Zhan family was still a united and loving one.
Although the two girls were usually carefree and thoughtless, when real problems arose, they were capable of putting themselves in their parents' shoes and helping their brother.
They had considered the family's needs a lot, making Zhan Jingrui seem particularly selfish.
In these years, he had lived the most leisurely life.
Not only did he get into a university that everyone admired, studied cutting-edge knowledge in intelligent products, but he also had a girlfriend who stayed by his side, making him arguably the most successful among the siblings.
Ge'er and Tiantian joked privately, fearing that he would continue to live so carefreely abroad and not want to return to China.
They were giving him a preemptive warning.
He had to return after graduation. Regardless of which company, he had to choose one to work for the family, or his living expenses would be cut off.
Fortunately, Zhan Jingrui had never thought of settling down abroad and readily agreed.
Today was the day of his return.
Ge'er had a client meeting at her company, so Tiantian came to pick him up alone.
After waiting for less than ten minutes, a tall, handsome man appeared in the crowd, dressed in black casual wear, black sunglasses, with headphones around his neck, carrying a suitcase, looking like a walking model.
Beside him walked a fair-skinned, beautiful woman with long, flowing hair, dressed in a light coffee-colored trench coat, whose demeanor perfectly matched his.
Even though the two had no overly intimate actions or ambiguous eye contact, just walking side by side, their innate compatibility still attracted the attention of many.
Even Tiantian couldn't help but take out her phone to take a few photos of them together.
When they finally came out, she rushed over and hugged Chu Xi.
"You're finally back, you've worked hard. Sister-in-law is getting more and more beautiful. Today's happiness is derived from hugging a beauty."
Zhan Jingrui had been with Chu Xi since their third year of high school, and by now, the entire family knew about Chu Xi's existence.
Although Tiantian didn't contact her much, their relationship had lasted for so many years that Chu Xi had already become the Zhan family's tacitly acknowledged daughter-in-law. Whenever she returned to China during holidays, Tiantian and Ge'er would call her sister-in-law.
At first, Chu Xi was unaccustomed to it and would blush, but now she was very comfortable.
She smiled and cupped Tiantian's face, saying,
"How dare I call myself beautiful in front of you? You are the one getting more and more radiant. I had to stay up many nights for my graduation thesis recently, so my skin is quite bad. How is your skin so good? Teach me your skincare secrets when you have time."
"Okay, okay."
The two girls walked forward, arm in arm, as if he had come to pick up only Chu Xi, not saying much to Zhan Jingrui throughout the process.
When they reached the car, the two of them even directly sat in the back seat, leaving the driving to Zhan Jingrui, who had just traveled a long distance.
Because they were only in a romantic relationship and were still young, to avoid affecting Chu Xi's reputation, they always booked her a hotel outside when she came to Nancheng.
Although they were no longer young, and the two of them could even get married, Zhan Jingrui still instructed Tiantian in advance to book a hotel.
First, they would drive her to the hotel, settle her in, and then they would go home.
Only then did Tiantian start chatting with Zhan Jingrui.
"I say, you've been dating for so many years, why haven't you let her stay at your place? Are you that afraid of affecting her reputation? Are you that unconfident about marrying her? Don't you want to marry her?"
"After so many years, are you two still so pure? You wouldn't possibly..."
This question was not only asked by her, but also by Ge'er and Jiang Nan Fang.
Although Zhan Jingrui found it annoying to hear, he still had to explain.
He said with little patience, "How can it be that as women, you can't think from her perspective?"
"If you had a boyfriend and moved into his house before your parents had even discussed marriage details, do you think Mom and Dad would be happy?"
"..." Tiantian pouted, choked by his words.
"I just thought you two would definitely get married, and I was thinking of you, afraid you'd suffer from lovesickness if you were apart. My good intentions are not appreciated."
"Speaking of which. You two have been together for so many years, and it was fine before graduation, but now that you've both graduated with master's degrees, when exactly do you plan to get married?"
Zhan Jingrui noticed her double standards and couldn't help but retort to her from the rearview mirror.
"Am I that old? So old that I have to get married and have children as soon as I graduate?"
"If I remember correctly, we're the same age. You haven't even had a boyfriend yet, so what right do you have to ask me such questions?"
Tiantian: "Hey, Zhan Jingrui, I find you ungrateful. What do you mean by 'such questions'? It's as if I'm intentionally mocking you, but I'm just concerned about you."
"Thank you, but I don't need it. When you have time, focus on yourself. You're already a master's graduate, and you haven't even dated a boyfriend. Is there something wrong with you?"
"Just because you've dated two more girlfriends than me, look how proud you are! If they have problems, you don't! If it weren't for your and Jingyu's failed relationships, would I and Ge'er..."
Seeing his expression change and his face quickly fall, Tiantian, who had learned to read people's expressions over the years, quickly shut her mouth.
Zhan Jingrui had a brief episode in Suzhou when he was studying with a woman named He Yao.
Although the specifics of how it happened were unknown, all his siblings knew that he had lied to his parents to return to school early to see her, but they broke up later.
Whether it was because of Chu Xi or something else, he didn't allow that past to be mentioned.
Like Jiang Jingyu, his relationships were always mysterious, as if the whole family owed them something, and they were constantly expected to manage their emotions and live by their moods.
If it weren't for their two brothers having such failed relationships, would she and Ge'er be so scared that they lost all hope for romance?
They were afraid of hurting any man's feelings, which would turn them into neurotics.
Seeing that she had wisely fallen silent, Jiang Jingyu paused for a moment, then felt guilty and proactively brought up the topic again.
"Did Mom and Dad say anything to you?"
Tiantian truthfully replied, "No. Are Mom and Dad that kind of people? It's just that their cooperation with the Chu family has become more and more open and transparent in the past two years. Everyone knows about your relationship, and others will talk."